My hibiscus has been having some problems ever since the Japanese beetles attacked it in June and left it quite chewed up. Now I am seeing tiny little white bugs. Can anyone tell me what these little bugs are and the best course of treatment for them?
Cat--we DO get around--don't we?
OK! The tiny, little white bugs--do they move/fly away when you touch them?
If "Yes"--then those are White fly--a pretty destructive little bug.
They tend to go to plants with fuzzy leaves. Eg: Ageratum, BE Susans,
Hollyhocks, etc...Does a Hibiscus have fuzzy leaves???
I had them on both my Brugs by the shed. Whatever they do--so many of the
leaves were just yellowing and falling off. Seriously--all the bottom leaves fell off--
one at a time.....
I sprayed a couple times. It helped a bit....but they are not easy to kill.
IF they just sit there and suck juices--they may be a form of scale--I don't know.
Either way--I don't think they would make the holes in the leaves.
May be Earwigs...if you see a slime trail--then it may be slugs.
Either way--a Systemic applied to the soil would be helpful. Water it in often.
In about 10 days-2 weeks, they should all croak.
Hope this helped....better close-up pictures would help too.
Gita
Maya Brug and white Fly damage. leaves dropping off daily.
Checked under the leaves--and found the White Flies.
Thanks, Gita--I think I will try the systemic! The bugs mostly just sit there, although I think I've had a few that seemed to sort of drop off when I was handling the leaf--not fly away, just drop off.
could also try spraying with Neem oil.
thanks, Drobarr. I have sprayed with Neem oil a couple times now. :-( Maybe the systemic will help. I've also thought about moving it to a sunnier spot. It gets afternoon sun, but not morning sun. Maybe it would like morning sun better, and so be healthier overall and more resistant to all these pests.
imidacloprid containing systemic would work good.
thanks! I'm wondering why imidacloprid in particular?
Same thing as Bayer advanced systemic insecticide. It is a very good product that is fairly broad spectrum.
There are not alot of systemic insecticides out there...that are xylem mobile.
Do you have a preferred one?
thanks, Dr O. I don't know much about it. When I needed to treat my weeping cherry, the nursery recommended Ortho tree and shrub insect control. I've looked over the jug and its instructional booklet but can't find specific info on what ingredient it's using to kill the bugs.
